Madison, Wis.-Shelby Howard was running fifth around Lap 160 of the Miller
Lite 250 presented Southern Wisconsin Dodge Dealers at Madison Int'l
Speedway when things started to go his way.

After leading 154 of the first 168 laps, race-leader Benny Gordon came to
pit road under green and lost a lap. Jeff Agnew, running third at the time,
ducked to pit road under green and lost a lap. Johnny Rumley, another of
the top-five drivers, ran out of fuel and lost several laps. And when the
race's second caution waved for Woody Howard's spin, Shelby Howard, Gary
St. Amant and Sam Fullone were the only drivers on the lead lap. But St.
Amant, driver of the No. 72 JEGS.com Chevrolet, wouldn't be there for long.

St. Amant was running second when Gordon pitted and inherited the lead, but
the veteran driver's car ran out of fuel before he could make his stop and
lost a lap, leaving Howard and Fullone on a lap by themselves. Howard made
the most of his fortune by pulling away from Fullone down the stretch and
winning his third race of the season and second in a row.

"I was worried while we were under caution, wondering if I was going to
make it to the pits," said Howard, driver of the No. 20 Speedco/Tony
Stewart Racing Pontiac. "We made it. The car held over 21 gallons, so we
were close."

But the outcome wasn't close after Howard had control of the event.

Howard turned up the wick on the No. 20 Pontiac and pulled away from
Fullone by 5.108 seconds. Despite finishing a distant second, Fullone's run
was a career-best and a much needed finish for his snake-bitten team.

"Finishing second is like a win for this team," said Fullone, driver of the
No. 48 Pero Vegetables Chevrolet. "We had some luck with the attrition, but
we still had a top-five car. We've had a fast car all season; we've just
had some bad stuff happen. My guys keep putting the cars back together, and
we come back and do it again."

Despite finishing 16th, Benny Gordon did it again as well, taking his third
consecutive North Division title. Gordon, who won his eighth Advance Auto
Parts Pole of the season, wrestled the lead away from Woody Howard, driver
of the No. 55 Dean Motorsports Chevy, on Lap 15 and checked out on the
field, building a six-second lead before coming to pit road under green and
losing a lap. But losing a lap in the pits was merely a foreshadowing of
things to come for Gordon's No. 66 Ford.

A plethora of problems plagued the DuBois, Pa., driver's car had late in
the race and dropped him from the race on Lap 211.

"I don't know if our car could have been any faster; we about lapped
everybody," said Gordon, who led a race-high 154 laps. "We pitted under
green and the caution came out, so we lost a lap. We went back out and
thought the clutch was slipping, but it turned out to be the axle. We fixed
that and went back out and got ready to go green and the battery went dead.
It wasn't a battery; a wire broke off the alternator. A lot of things went
wrong tonight."

But it was the bright moments of the regular season that Gordon, who
suffered three mechanical failures in the final three races, was trying to
focus on as the season heads toward the Championship Series.

"I really felt like we had a car that could've won every race this year,"
said Gordon, who finished the regular season with eight poles, 10 top-five
finishes and five wins in 14 starts. "It's hard to get like that, and I'm
proud of this team for what they've done. We pride ourselves on nothing
mechanical ever happening to our cars.It just seems everything hit us at
the end of the season. I'm mad because we gave another win away tonight,
but I'm really proud of what this team has accomplished over the last three
years."

Derek Kale also clinched some regular-season hardware in the Miller Lite
250, snagging the Northern Division Miller Lite Rookie of the Year Award.
But he, like Gordon, wasn't around at the finish.

Kale, driver of the No. 22 Heritage Equipment Chevrolet, ran in the top 10
until breaking a brake rotor and dropping from the event on Lap 53. Even
with his 18th-place finish, Kale finished nearly 200 points ahead of his
rookie class.

Kale finished the regular with only two top-10 finishes, but he only
finished outside the top-20 on three occasions in 12 starts.

"It took me some time to learn how to drive these cars. They're heavier
than a Late Model, and you have to finesse it more," said Kale. "I've had
to learn how to slow them down and navigate traffic."

Kale has also had to learn patience after several early-season altercations
drew the ire of his veteran competitors.

"It was me getting used to the cars," Kale said of the early-season run-
ins. "I've have an aggressive driving style, and I've had to slow myself
up. I've actually had some guys tell me they enjoy racing with me lately. I
appreciate all the help these guys are giving me now that we have this
little bit of respect. Hopefully, we can continue to get better and become
a contender."

Jack Bailey, driver of the No. 93 Ferguson Waterworks Ford, has been a
contender all season, and that trend continued in the Miller Lite 250.

Bailey finished up his impressive season with a third-place finish, but it
came with a little luck.

"The attrition helped us out tonight," said Bailey, who posted his fifth
top-five finish in his first Pro Cup season. "Our car was pretty bad, but
we kept working and made the most of it. We've been trying to gain some
momentum going into the Championship Series and work on our setups. I think
we'll be ready when we go to Iowa."

Gary St. Amant is a driver who has momentum on his side heading into the
Championship Series. St. Amant finished fourth in the Miller Lite 250,
giving the short-track veteran four top-five finishes in the last five
races.

The Miller Lite 250 was slowed three times for 25 laps of caution and
featured six lead changes among five drivers.

Miller Lite 250 Notebook

One More Miller Lite
For the second race in a row, Gabi DiCarlo picked up $1,000 for being the
Miller Lite Rookie of the Race. DiCarlo, driver of the No. 83 Great Clips
Ford, also posted her career-best finish by coming home eighth.

Yellow Talk
With the lack of a caution as the pit window neared, several drivers began
reporting debris on the track at various locations around MIS. In the end,
the yellow talk was just that, and the race stayed green. It was the first
time teams made green-flag stops all season and the lowest total of
cautions (3) all year.

Cheering for the Underdog
Joe Harrison Jr. has been constant figure since the inception of the
Hooters Pro Cup Series. Each week, Harrison makes the trek to the track
with his independent, family-run team to compete against the many high-
powered Pro Cup behemoths.

With his 15th-place finish in the Miller Lite 250, Harrison moved into 15th
in final standings, putting him in the car owner bonus plan for 2007 and-
more importantly-giving him the option of two provisionals in the
Championship Series.

Good Day, Bad Day
Woody Howard's bad day couldn't have come at a more opportune time for
Shelby Howard. Woody came into the Miller Lite 250 third in the Northern
Division standings, but with Shelby's win and Woody's 11th-place finish,
Shelby finished the regular season third in points while Woody dropped to
fifth.